If she were honest with herself, the prospect of returning to work was a daunting one. She wasn't looking forward to seeing hospital beds so soon after having gotten out of one.

Then again, she was looking forward to seeing her coworker's faces again and catching with the various patients she hadn't been able to speak to for a few weeks now. Maybe it was the idea that she wouldn't be around Erik 24 hours a day that was really what weighed so heavily on her heart.

She had a job to do though, and so she bound her snakes back like usual, dug her scrubs out of the clean laundry, and gathered everything she would need for her first shift back. It was a light-duty one, considering what she had been through. Nobody expected her to be at 100% just yet, and she was thankful for that. She would still give it her all, but... for once she wasn't going to argue for more.

"Andrea!" Nancy, a very lovely middle-aged woman with fantastic smile lines, spotted her the second she walked in to put her things away. The Greek was caught slightly off guard by the surprise hug the woman bestowed upon her but didn't resist it. She embraced it, even. Perhaps her ordeal had pushed her just a bit closer to some of the staff she had grown so familiar with over the years.

"I'm so glad to see you back! Are you really feeling up to it, though? I don't want you pushing yourself at all." There was genuine concern there, and it filled her with warmth.

"I am fine, truly! I would not push myself unnecessarily... more importantly, how is your daughter doing? Did the birth go smoothly?"

The two of them chatted for a bit about various things she had missed while away, and Nancy gifted her with a new lanyard the team had gotten her as a get well gift, as well as a cute little flower pin. "Because we didn't want to floor your place with real ones." She joked.

By the time Andy was making her rounds, checking charts, and administering meds and fluids to the few rooms she had to for the first couple of hours, she was comfortable.

A little tired, but comfortable.

She'd be lying to herself if she denied wanting to check in with Erik, well before her first break was due. She had just grown so used to talking with him as often as she wished that the relative quiet in some of her rooms was starting to get to her a little.

It wasn't some huge leap of intuition that Erik had decided his girlfriend didn't really want to go to work with the same enthusiasm she usually held for her job. He was also just barely adult enough to not ask her to stay and watch her hard won resolve crumble. She had responsibilities. He had.. well an almost anarchistic free spirit towards almost everything in life compounded by his introverted ways. Erik also discovered once she was gone it felt like the some part of him had been maliciously torn away yet still there.. just hollow. 

He was a doer and a problem solver so mopking was totally out of the question. Five minutes of worrying and a boisterous internal debate and he had a plan driven far more by feelings then intelligence. After dropping her off at work with the most neutral face he could manage he had simply went and made a pit stop before parking his van in the patient parking area and heading on inside like any old delivery person. With his skills it wasn't hard to talk his way past security and find his way to the area Andrea was working. 

Carol noticed him out of the corner of her eye and almost double taked herself right into a wall. Aside from her usual innuendo laden words and attempts to pry into his personal life she helped him find his way to the area's break room. Finally where he wanted to be he started to unpack the food he had purchased for everyone working in the area based on conversations he had with Andrea. Of course it couldn't be simple. With Carol on the take the room suddenly had a steady stream of arrivals and Erik had the unsteady feeling of an animal at the zoo.

Despite his growing social anxiety, sweaty hands, and urge to jump from the nearest window he endured. If he couldnn't take some good natured questioning from his girlfriends coworkers for her sake he couldn't call himself a worthy boyfriend. Not that most of them hadn't heard of him given how he had carried Andrea into the hospital and Carol's ability to be herself.

Making sure she was the last person told the catwoman hunted down Andrea and greeted her with a hug and the usual good to see yous and platitudes. "Oh yeah, you should head to the break room as soon as you can." Was all she said before continuing on her own rounds with her signature feline grace. 

Erik had earned himself a reprieve by ushering peoples attention to the food he had brought. Hot sandwhiches with salads, one of which was clearly marked 'Andrea' in a large brown bag.

Andy became aware that something was up when she noticed there was a bit more whispering going on than was normal and from the fact that some of the older nurses seemed to be giggling a lot behind their hands.

... What was she not aware of yet?

She had half a mind to hunt one of the more talkative ones down to find out but ran into Carol first. The sheer energy from the woman was enough to distract her, coupled with a new story about her latest date with Greek History guy. By the time Carol's story wound down and Andy was ready to pounce on her with questions, the cat woman flipped it in a different direction and skirted away, and Andy was left walking herself toward the break room more confused than ever.

What, had someone dropped off muffins again? Had that been a dig at her appetite? Carol certainly seemed the type to-

oh.

Stupified for a moment, she stood off to the side of the doorway as people milled in and out, rushing in to snag food while they had a chance and then hurrying off to their tasks again. Woah! She hadn't been expecting a whole layout of food like that! It took a moment of eyeballing everything from the doorway before she spotted Erik and her heart virtually exploded right then.

Of course he would surprise her like this, and while doing something so genuinely kind at the same time!

Heading in, she skirted around the room to him and threw her arms around him in a tight hug. She didn't care if people were looking, either! "You wonderful man you!" She at least kept her voice down a bit so as to not draw all of the attention their way.

"How did you manage to keep Carol from uttering a single word of this to me?" She spotted the bag with her name on it and clutched at him all the more tightly.

He'd brought her FOOD!

"... I love you, my dearest."

Worth it.

It had been a bit of a pain to pull it all together on minimal notice. Even if it was a good flex of his skills to Get Things Done in a short time frame. The look of pleased suprise on her face was completely worth it. Not to mention just seeing her again put a little something special into his day and made him feel... complete.  

He gave a happy little sigh at her embrace and returned it with all the warm tenderness he could muster. "I do try. And let's just say I have my ways?" Ways involving copious amounts of carrot and sticking the feline woman. To the wonderful green greek wrapped up in his arms he gave a squeeze at the words the made his heart flow to burst. 

"I love you too, mechta." Holding her longer then was probably 'kosher' but he didnt give a damn before loosening his arms. "Figured you would be hungry and I didn't see you take anything with you. Pretty sure I overheard you saying something to Carol on the phone about how you weren't looking forward to the cafeteria food." Not to eavesdrop, but he had good hearing, even from the other side of her apartment. 

"It should be plenty, I hope." Gesturing briefly with a hand that she should eat if she had the chance.